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March 31, 2009

a- A+ ^

Articles, Previews - By Trent Petronaitis at 2:24 pm

So Bobs Game demo one came out either officially or non-officially- some how the world obtained it and now the world can say if it sucks or not.

So some background awhile ago this guy called Bob claimed to have made a game over the period of 5 years. After awhile he went crazy and did an over the top “Viral” campaign- which in the end resulted in this random demo.

Overall? Just like what people have said the past few days since Bob has been more open about what this gem contains- just Retro Game Challenge with a tacked on story.

Taking things as they come- I’m going to talk about the game from what I’ve played and not what Bob has hyped up his own mind.

So I put the game onto my DS and was like ‘mmm’ some load time, stupid warning label he’s attached which looks like it is done in paint. The rest of the text, menus and speech after that though seem very nice and sharp. But this warning label was just crap.

The demo was based around the first 5 seconds of Bobs game- with the mission been to find the batteries. Yes once I figured out that looking in boxes wasn’t going to find batteries and that switching the power off will make the brother run around like a little fag – I could then steal the batteries. That was semi alright- but then you get a bloody GameBoy (called a GameToy from Gantendo) and your mum nags you to go next door and play with the kid who should have one of these bloody toys (god only knows why she would think that). What more is she puts a fucking shock collar on – (wait for it) yuu. What a crazy bitch.

The rest of the demo ends up you braking into the kids house (if you want- iddno if you can, I didn’t try I went straight to the kid) but yeah once you get to the kid hes like “OMFG SOME STRANGER IS HERE” and then he’s like ‘your gay’ until you tell him your dad has an amusement park. Now your best friends forever and he makes you play tetris until you finish it. But this isn’t any normal tetris it is a bastardized version with missing bricks from the blocks and is hard as all hell. Did I mention I hate tetris?

Well once you do that the kid is like “not even the game developer could finish it” and then its over.

I suppose its a better outcome then what I thought was going to happen- especially with the brother. I thought the main character would just bitch to his mummy and get her to tell him off.

Also there are some random strange boxes in one of the rooms- a severed head and fertilizer as well as garbage bags? The fuck?

Potential Score: So-So

From what I’ve played today there is some potential to go above that and be a thumbs up- but if this is what the package feels and plays like for the whole game then this will be quite a disappointing but still semi good game.

* Screenshots taken by Jdbye from GBAtemp

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March 30, 2009

a- A+ ^

Articles, Previews - By Trent Petronaitis at 7:18 pm

What can I preview in the time it takes for dad to cook dinner and call is brother? I know Little King’s Story.

It’s been awhile since I bitched about people wanting evil games and telling them to buy something else- the soul purpose of a preview. But this time I dare say I have a reason- I’ve found a game which deserves some more recognition before its pushed out in mass regions around the globe from the end of April.

But the sad thing is I don’t really know much about this title- I dare say I’m going to hype it like crap only for the world to notice that I lied and it quite possibility could suck.

But some small background on the development, it was a few years back and someone decided it would be a good idea to group together a dream team. This consisted of guess who- Cing- yes that is the main reason why I know about this title. It also consisted of Marvelous Entertainment and Town Factory.

So this dream created some slur- what was it that they were working on? Would it be worth it? and the biggest question of all- Does my fanboy instinct want me to flap over the game?

Well it turns out it wasn’t flappable in a hot girl kind of way- but the dream team did put out with a title which has an interesting promise and a great fresh idea. Then someone decided WiiWare is a much quicker way to produce games and out came a total rip off of the concept in Square-Enix form.

Little King’s Story however does have an upper hand- while Square totally ripped out the idea of building and expanding a kingdom- Little King’s Story goes beyond that simple concept.

So after a freaky cow riding paedophile makes you into a king- you have to wonder what his motives are. But after you become king people have this weird feeling to follow you.

So after these people start their adventure of been slaves to a little kid you start to build up your kingdom by building objects and fighting monsters. In the end you get bored of your little village and decided to invade other peoples kingdoms and make a new world order.

So as your kingdom expands from a little shack in some old seedy mans province, in the end it becomes a magical kingdom.

Potential Score: Thumbs Up

If the dream team isn’t enough to make you want this title- then the expanded ideas and concepts which didn’t get converted into a small as title for WiiWare is.

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a- A+ ^

Articles, Reviews - By Trent Petronaitis at 7:19 am

So the Nintendo DS version of GTA- is it worth it or does it fail with the stench of a over-rated game.

GTA has always been a great series, though it has had its ups and downs like any other. The 2D games have always been very suggestible in quality. The last 2D game was GTA Advance, which felt like it didn’t belong and the game didn’t flow as well as the 3D titles.

Chinatown Wars takes the series back to the top down style after last years GTA:IV. Which was a very solid appealing title, both graphic wise and game play wise.

This game however still has that charm- keeping GTA to its routes. But the problem with keeping games to their original routes is that sometimes things are missing. GTA: Chinatown wars doesn’t change that- with some of the features and more diverse things to do which we got used to in GTA:IV. These features are more like the original GTA titles.

But that doesn’t mean the title will stick- far from it but the missing features if your looking for them make it seem unfinished and empty. There is however and extensive wi-fi and local set up for communication and playing.

Another disappointment was the quick story and the story itself. Yes after you finish the story you have some things you can do if you choose to- giving you 100% finish. But the games story finishes before then- when the credits role the games done and in this title it roles after a finding out…

The story evolves into a predictable mess of finding out who’s the rat for the most part of the game, while the first part was learning the ropes and a few missions to put you into leverage- wait I always think it was a back and forward rat race just burning everything to the ground from the start. While the story ended quick and wasn’t that much of an experience- it dam well suited the handheld for a quick ending- but at the same time it felt like there could be more.

Don’t get me wrong with all the simplicities of the title and the drug dealing system- it was quite enjoyable. But when it came down to it this game just took everything the GTA series worked to expand it selves on and takes itself back to the start again.

With that though the game does have some nice done smaller things. Such as if your car goes into the water you tap the touch screen to punch through a window. And while your not smashing car windows like on GTA:IV you can still hotwire the car (with a few different modes depending on how ‘good’ the car is).

Score: Thumbs Up

With all said the game was great with its top down perspective and graphics. Its a shame that most side activities and other features which GTA:IV introduced seemed to be missing.

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March 29, 2009

a- A+ ^

Articles, Reviews - By Trent Petronaitis at 1:59 pm

Space Invaders: Extreme 2 has popped its face out to Japanese players- a little taste of the game proves that this is even better then the original.

The original Space Invaders was a ground braking arcade game which drew the nerds and geeks to the arcades afterschool decades ago. 30 years after the original Space Invaders Extreme was released and that revolutionized the original old title.

But the next generation wasn’t going to be far behind- a year later the second title in the Extreme series was released after the disappointing Space Invaders Get Even for the WiiWare.

Space Invaders Extreme 2 offers the original games ideas still, and what more is that for a sequel it has expanded the extreme series even more.

Space Invaders Extreme 2 has all the modes and game play tricks which the 1st version introduced, but streamlined the game play so everything is smooth. For example challenges don’t cut the game play to direct you to them- the top screen is now used for them- making the games action all the time.

The graphics have also been improved slightly- backgrounds are much more interesting (though some people say they get in the way of seeing the enemies bullets- I haven’t had this problem) and it feels much sharper- over all the graphics are still the same, but they feel much more polished.

Music is another element which has been polished- the tracks are much more diverce and still have the original (Space Invaders Extreme)’s style to it.

Boss battles are also much more interesting- but still seem similar to the originals bosses.

Score: Thumbs Up

While the game in general is more of the same of the original Space Invaders Extreme, its a much more polished title. So if you have yet to pick up the original- this will be a much more polished experience and much more enjoyable. Though if you want another version to play- still pick this one up as it offers enough to feel like a different title.

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March 23, 2009

a- A+ ^

News - By Trent Petronaitis at 9:20 pm

While Trinest.Com is in a nasty state and need some work done (the design I think I broke :/) anyway thats going to be all fixed soon- but for this week I’m constrating on bringing Another Code Labs back online.

You can check out the development of Another Code Labs at – http://anothercodelabs.co.uk/

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March 15, 2009

a- A+ ^

Articles, Reviews - By Trent Petronaitis at 8:22 pm

Notes:

Ah WhiteCrane – I considered this CMS when I was planning the site going CMS. Mainly because the guy who made this let us use their forums for our own evil bidding. But this is no way a sell out- because I personally am undecided on this CMS and while I see its doing good- I still hate CMS’s and only using WordPress for its compaidibilty with other programs for development reasons anyway………

On With the Crane!

First thing was first- I downloaded the latest build (1.10) to test. Uploaded it to my server and took some happy snaps for public viewing.

When you first load up the domain after uploading- the later build (I’ve been using this since the start for testing) warns you that no configuration file is found. This allows me to run the installer.

The installer is a simple step by step process- it shows an overview of the CMS, Terms of Use and then the installer itself.

The CMS doesn’t use a SQL database- which means I don’t have to load anything to create a database for testing. I can simply enter the sites name then input the desired Admin User name and Password.

Under this is an option to email server settings and other information to the developers.

You will notice once you finish the CMS that its a very clean page and design. The design is very easy to customize with the code using only a header and footer pages- the content is generated by the CMS. This means cropping any of your current designs to work in the CMS is easier then most current CMS solutions.

This + is the center of all changes. This allows once your logged in to edit the page, manage the system wide settings and view an index page (which shows all the pages on the site) – you can also delete the current page.

The CMS has some front page plug-in which allow certain things to happen (these were in the testing versions- unknown if these are still in the build)

The settings page allows you to modify the same options you did when you installed it. But it also allows URL rewrite and Syntax to be changed.

To create a new page it is as simple as inputting the desired url into the browser. This will then say there is no page. In the Admin section a ‘header’ section appears- which allows you to then type the title and create the page.

CMS Chart Score: So-So/Semi Thumbs Up/So close to a TUP that I should of just said Thumbs Up…

Overall this CMS is very light weight and impressive- but with that comes the lack of current features. But it is easy to implement any desired effect.

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a- A+ ^

Articles, Previews - By Trent Petronaitis at 7:57 pm

A new section- we look at the games on the horizon as I feel like it- first up is Australian Developer Nnooo with its DS version of the legendary Pop.

Pop originally was released as a WiiWare title- it featured a small swag of game play options as well as a funky original pick up and play multiplayer.

The idea of pop is just that- pop some bubbles and to keep the challenge fresh, various power ups will help you pop more in different ways. There are also different challenge modes which change the game play again for example, with a timer.

When I played the Wii Version I was impressed at the time due to the small line up of WiiWare titles- and the pickup and play aspect of the title was so captivating.

Well while the game play hasn’t changed that much- its had more challenge modes added to it and has appeared on the iPhone as well. With developers looking to continue expanding the Pop brand as well as coming up with their next IP.


A sample look at the offers of the new DS version

POP+ Solo is a DSiWare version, which means it only works on the DSi and its a download title. Skimmed out of the title for launch is multiplayer- but the developers have added in another batch of modes to challenge you. One of them involves fighting bosses.

If you want some continued reading you can check out:

Anticipation Score: Thumbs Up

Pop has already proved itself on the Wii. The developers expanded the title with the iPhone version and continue to do that with new DS version.

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